Avast stops WiFi from starting on boot

Have had a problem for a while now (several months), possibly made worse by an MS update but have tracked it down to a clear interaction with Avast.

Win 7 Pro with Avast Free

  • When I turn the machine on there is a 50+% chance that the machine will not start properly. Most obviously, the Wifi will not connect and retains a blue circle “waiting” over the wifi icon in the system tray. I have also tried to examine task start-up statuses using services.msc, but that refuses to start also. Other tasks seem to run (such as I can start Windows Explorer, Process Explorer) but the machine is in general very slow.
  • A restart will 100% fix the problem and the machine will start ok. However, the shutdown when doign this takes a very long time (10+ minutes) with near-constant disk activity during that time
  • If, each time I turn the machine off, I turn Avast off before shutting down the machine then the problem does not occur
  • Have updated Avast to 19.6.2383 (build 19.6.4546.494) and the problem is still there

Obviously, a magic solution would be best, but otherwise are there any logs I could access and submit? Thx

  1. Download Avast Free Antivirus: https://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_free_antivirus_setup_offline.exe
  2. Follow instructions: https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility (Run this tool for all prior installed Avast versions…!!)
  3. Reinstall Avast with the downloaded installer from point 1.
  4. Reboot.

Have had Avast uninstalled (using the full uninstall program) for a while now, machine has behaved perfectly.

3 days ago, reinstalled Avast free. First couple of boot swere ok, but this morning the SAME old problem has appeared. Avast is clearly interferign with something so I have taken it off again. Unless this is recognised by Avast and a fix implemented, or at least someone can tell me how to provide logs etc, than it’s bye bye Avast

  • OS…? (32/64 Bit…? - which SP/Build…?)
  • Other security related software installed…?
  • Which AV(s) did you use before Avast…?

Win 7 Pro 64 bit SP1 original Dell OEM, fully MS patched through to period if problem.
Rebuilt afresh about 2 years ago
No other live AV. Malwarebytes periodic scan
No other AV has ever been on the machine.

I saw a few posts on Woody’s a while back (6-9 monthd?) suspecting an MS update of comms issues in conjunction with a number of AVs but has gone quiet now. But on my own 2 machines on W7 I am now sure part of the problem is Avast. My W10 machine with Avast is fine, but then W10 has a vastly different (and faster) boot sequence

There must be a way to provide diagnostics dumps to Avast.

You could try the following.
Submitting a support file using the Avast Support Tool: https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB33

Thanks, do you know if this grabs a log including past events or just a snapshot as-is, because when the wifi refusal occurs, the rest of the machine freezes too and requires a reboot?

Sorry that’s something Avast would have to answer it’s their tool.

You might also want to give the following utility a try.
https://www.rizonesoft.com/downloads/complete-internet-repair/
It’s my go to utility when there’s an internet access problem other than my ISP.
I usually check the top 5 options hit the go button, let it finish it’s task, and reboot.

Thx, may try, but again, if it needs a non-frozen machine…

You’ve options:

[ol]- Set your wi-fi to start after Windows loads completely. In other words, remove wi-fi from your startup list
[li]Use a CAT5 (wired) connection and turn off your wi-fi for now/li][/ol]